KYW’s Robin Culverwell reports that on Wednesday, state-run beaches were closed. Most beaches in New Jersey are run by municipalities and those beaches will not close.
Camp grounds and state parks are also closed, as well as the Department of Motor Vehicles, the state lottery, and some courts.
Governor Corzine said drivers with expired licenses are getting an automatic one-month extension. More than 40,000 non-essential state workers have been furloughed.
KYW's David Madden reports from Salem County, NJ that New Jersey state parks may be shut down, but that’s not stopping people from using them anyway.
There’s no welcome at the welcome center at Fort Mott State Park (right) in Pennsville, NJ. The 10 workers usually here on a weekday are among those furloughed.
Who’s at fault for the budget impasse? Depends on who you talk to.
This woman didn’t want to give her name, but she blames the legislature:
"It’s all political. They have something against the new governor, so they want to cause a problem for him."
But Nelson Carter, who takes his dog for a walk here every day, has problems with governor Jon Corzine:
"That clown, he wanted that office so bad. And this is what he gives us?"
The gates here were left wide open despite the shutdown. Even if they were closed, there’s no one to stop people from just going around them.
(Photos: State of NJ)
KYW's Mark Abrams reports that motorists who use the Garden State's toll roads won't be catching any break because of the government shutdown.
Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, says toll takers are on duty along the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway:
"The Turnpike Authority is just that. It's an 'authority,' separate from the actual government agency. We don't fall underneath the state budget and we receive no funding at all from the state."
Orlando says that means all employees' salaries and other expenses for turnpike and parkway operations are covered by the tolls drivers pay. The same is true for the Atlantic City Expressway, which is run by the South Jersey Transportation Authority.
So, despite the budget crisis, it's just another operating day along New Jersey's toll roads.
NJN, New Jersey’s state-supported public television network, is managing to stay on the air to cover the budget crisis.
New Jersey Network's executive director Elizabeth Christopherson says the operation is mandated by it's charter to stay on the air in times of emergency. In this case, she says the governor's office considers her operation an essential communication service for Garden State residents:
"The state has the opportunity to provide for essential services and so they are providing us funds."
Christopherson says by no means is it enough to run with a full staff so a skeleton crew of talent and behind-the-scenes workers is keeping the operation on the air and covering the story.
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